A psychological evaluation is often the first step towards intervention for children displaying difficulties associated with ADHD symptoms. The degree to which impairment associated with ADHD can be diminished relies in part on the extent to which patients follow through on recommendations that are provided as part of the psychological evaluation. Currently, there is little research that examines adherence to psychological evaluation recommendations. Two pioneer studies (Dreyer et al., 2010; Mucka et al., 2017) have found support for barriers and level of parent stress in predicting non-adherence to assessment recommendations. The present study expands upon previous research by examining adherence to psychological evaluation recommendations through the Common Sense Model (CSM; Leventhal et al., 1980), which hypothesizes that individuals create cognitive representations of an illness which promote coping behavior. Thirty-five caregiver/child dyads were recruited through an ADHD evaluation clinic and caregivers completed a telephone interview focused on adherence to assessment recommendations approximately 10 to 12 weeks after the evaluation feedback session. It was predicted that caregiver perceptions of child behavior and knowledge about ADHD would be associated with adherence to psychological evaluation recommendations. Results revealed that caregivers reported an average adherence rate of 66.62% to evaluation recommendations. In line with previous research, perceived barriers to recommendations were a significant predictor of adherence to recommendations. There was also a trend for caregiver knowledge about ADHD to be associated with adherence. The most commonly reported barrier was the COVID-19 pandemic. Contrary to hypotheses, caregiver perceptions of stability and child control over behavior were not associated with adherence to recommendations. Results suggest that increasing knowledge of ADHD is one factor that could improve outcomes for children diagnosed with ADHD.
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